Anybody else notice "Hot Price" for DVDs in ads? (1 Viewer)

[BrianGC]

Hi,
I just got a DVD player for the first time so I started paying attention to the ads for DVDs in the Sunday paper. Has anyone else noticed that for many of the new releases they don't even put the price? I guess because of price matching, it's annoying whatever the reason.

BrianGC

 

[Patrick Sun]

This has been going on for at least a year as retailers wise up to the price-matching practices of their competitors.

 

[Malcolm R]

Brian,

The "Hot Price" or "Low Price" is generally the same price as the item next to it on the page. Usually the HP or LP logo is overlapping two items. Both are usually the same price. Usually.

This is seen in the current Best Buy flyer where "The Ring" is listed as HP, but the HP overlaps with the disc next to it which is priced at $15.99. What's Best Buy's HP for "The Ring"? $15.99.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

The "Hot Price" or "Low Price" is generally the same price as the item next to it on the page

And if you see it in a Target ad, you can be assured it won't be the low-est price. At Target, "low price" means higher than most other stores, but slightly less than MSRP. If that's the "low" price, then I am "often" going to do my DVD shopping at Target.

 

[David Lambert]

In my Weekly Roundup, I always address this in the "fine print" up at the top of the first post:

$_"LP" means the advertisement says "Low Price", and $_"HP" means the advertisement says "Hot Price". Use of either of these in the Roundup grid indicates that I could not locate a definate price for the item, and the ad is all I have to go on. Retailers use these phrases in advertisements so that they do not violate MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) agreements with the studios. Doing so can cost them thousands or even millions of dollars in co-op advertising funds.

 

[Bill Balcziak]

In my Weekly Roundup, I always address this in the "fine print" up at the top of the first post

Ironic, huh?

 

[Jodee]

It really has nothing to do with price-matching, it has more to do with MAP (minimum advertised price) policies.

The studios pay for those Sunday ad placements and they have policies preventing the ads from running with prices that would undercut the rest of the marketplace.

 

[Ronn.W]

Jodee's right, retailers can't advertise a price if it's below a certain amount set by the manufacturer. They use the Low Price/Hot Price labels to 'connect' a price on 1 item to the price of another item. It's not unlike when an etailer has a low price on something and they have to make you add it to your shopping cart to see what the actual buy price is going to be, because they can't advertise the actual low price.